1. Technical Field
The invention relates to semiconductor material processing, and more particularly to machining a semiconductor workpiece on a workpiece support.
2. Background Information
Back side processes on thin wafers lead to problems in handling the wafers. In particular, thin wafers are wafers with a thickness of less than 300 mm. The handling problems become greater with increasing diameter of the wafers, i.e. particularly in the case of wafers having a diameter of between 100 mm and 300 mm or having a diameter of greater than 300 mm. In spite of an adaptation of machining plants to the machining of thin wafers and in spite of the associated expenditure, many handling disadvantages remain, particularly an additional operating effort, increased risk of fracture and restrictions in the processing.
To attach a workpiece to a workpiece support, an attaching means is used which is preferably arranged between the workpiece and the workpiece support in order to enable the workpiece to be machined in an unimpeded way and to ensure a joint also for workpieces at risk of fracture.
Japanese published document JP 04 188818 A discloses a semiconductor wafer which is bonded to a reinforcing material, such as to a polyamide film, for simple handling.
Although many types of support systems are conceivable for the wafer to be stable and manageable supported on a support, a large number of problems have to be solved at the same time. These problems include retaining a simple machining process, guaranteeing a high machining temperature, maintaining a simple detachment of the support without the risk of fracture for the wafer, and maintaining a relatively high stability in the process steps and during and after the detaching of the wafer from the support.